Page 18 of Shattered Truth (Off The Grid: FBI #15)

Chapter Ten

Matt woke up Saturday morning to the sound of coffee brewing and the soft shuffle of bare feet on hardwood floors.

For a moment, he forgot where he was, then the events of the previous day came rushing back.

Haley's couch was about as comfortable as advertised—which was to say, not at all—but it wasn't the lumpy cushions that had kept him awake. It was Haley.

After reading through her notes on her brother's death, he'd finally gone to sleep around two, having developed an even greater appreciation for her investigative skills and also her fierce love for her brother.

He hated that law enforcement had let her down.

He hated that it had taken six years for someone to try to get information to Haley, only to be killed before she could do that.

More than anything, he hated the way Haley had grown up—her father dead by suicide, her mother's descent into alcohol and drugs—leaving Haley to raise herself and her brother.

She had a strength that had been forged in fire, but there was still a vulnerability to her that made him want to protect her.

He'd seen that last night when she'd asked him to tell her if he had to leave.

She hadn't wanted him to disappear, probably because too many people in her life had vanished without a word.

It had taken courage for her to express that thought.

He'd seen the shame in her eyes and had wanted to tell her it was okay.

But it had seemed better to just assure her he would be there and hope she would believe him.

She'd definitely had it rough growing up, far worse than he had.

And it made him realize how lucky he'd been to have two parents who, while rarely focused on him, had made sure he had a place to live, plenty of food, and money to take care of his needs.

But Haley had been the one to give all that to her brother.

Knowing what he knew now, he felt even more determined to help her get the truth about her brother's death, because he didn't believe it was an accident any more than she did.

It was time for law enforcement to step it up, and he intended to do just that.

He just had to make sure she was safe while they were unraveling the truth, which meant he should try to get her into a safehouse.

She'd balk at the idea, but she'd almost lost her life last night.

If he hadn't been right behind her, he didn't know what would have happened.

Thankfully, he'd been there to save her, to hold her in his arms, to comfort her.

And that memory reminded him of the dreams he'd had about her last night—dreams that were definitely not appropriate for an FBI agent to have about a witness in an active investigation.

Haley Kenton was brave and beautiful, but she was also vulnerable and directly connected to his case. He couldn't forget that.

Taking a breath, he opened his eyes, knowing he needed reality to chase away the lingering dream images.

Turning his head, he saw Haley walking toward him with two mugs of coffee in her hands, a bright smile on her face and light in her striking blue eyes, and his resolve to keep her at a distance immediately fled.

She'd put on worn jeans and a tank top that clung to her curves, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, which emphasized her natural beauty. He was instantly attracted.

"Do you want coffee, Matt? It's black, but I can add creamer if you want, or a touch of vanilla."

"Black is fine." He desperately needed a shot of caffeine to clear his head. He sat up, swinging his legs to the floor, and accepted the mug with a grateful smile. "Thanks."

"I also made breakfast. Nothing fancy—just scrambled eggs and toast." She settled into the chair across from him. "I thought you might be hungry. There's also leftover pizza if you prefer that."

"The eggs are fine. You didn't have to cook for me."

"You didn't have to stay and protect me. Breakfast was the least I could do." She sipped her coffee. "Did you look through my files?"

He was grateful for the question, for the opportunity to think about something other than how much he wanted to kiss her. Clearing his throat, he said, "I did look through them. They were certainly more detailed than the file we got from the police."

"Did anything jump out at you?"

"No, but your notes about Brooke definitely make me want to talk to her."

"I actually looked online for her this morning. Brooke works for a marketing firm owned by Jill Adler."

"Of course she does," he said dryly. "The Westbridge grads like to hire their own. What does their client list look like?"

"Companies with Westbridge grads in the CEO chair. Not all, but a lot."

"This is starting to feel incestuous."

"It is," she agreed. "According to the company's social media page, they're sponsoring a charity event today at the Sheridan Art Museum. Feel like looking at some art?"

"I can't think of anything I'd rather not do," he said dryly.

"Really? Not an art fan?"

"It all looks like kids' scribbles to me. But I haven't spent a lot of time in museums."

"You've missed out. I love museums. They're so clean, controlled, beautiful. Even the air is exactly the right temperature and level of humidity. And when you look at art that was created sometimes hundreds of years ago, it gives perspective."

He could hear the passion in her voice and was surprised. "I wouldn't have guessed you liked art so much."

"I used to take Landon to free days at museums. We'd spend hours roaming the big exhibition rooms. It was a safe place for us to go.

" She shrugged. "Anyway, that doesn't matter.

We need to talk to Brooke, and that's where she'll be.

Plus, there will be others there as well, including Jill Adler and maybe some of her relatives. I can spring for the tickets."

"I can cover that," he said. "But first, I need to change clothes and check in with my team. Do you feel comfortable staying here while I do that? Then I can come back and pick you up."

"Sure," she said, hesitation in her voice. "That makes the most sense."

"Don't leave the apartment, Haley. Don't answer the door. If anything feels off, call 911 and then call me."

"I'll be fine. But why don't you eat before you go? I've got the eggs in the oven. They're warm."

"Great. I'm starving."

As she got up and moved into the kitchen, he put on his shoes and then joined her at the table. After breakfast, he would put a little more space and time between them. He just hoped his decision to leave her alone wouldn't prove to be a bad one.

Matt had left at ten, and it was now noon. In the past two hours, Haley had cleaned the kitchen, made her bed, read through her files, and walked back and forth to the window a few dozen times to make sure there was no one in the alley, no one watching her window.

She still had an hour and a half to go before he'd be back, and she needed to find something useful to do so she could stop worrying about the danger she was in.

She also needed to stop thinking random, inappropriate thoughts about Matt, who had looked less like an FBI agent sleeping on her couch and more like a very attractive man with ruggedly handsome features and a fit, powerful body that she'd found comfort and safety in after almost being run off the road.

But it wasn't so much gratitude that was dominating her thoughts; it was the feeling of attraction, chemistry…

both completely inconvenient emotions, considering the man was a federal agent who could still lock her up for obstructing justice.

Not that she thought he would. They'd moved beyond that.

But she still couldn't allow herself to think he was anything more than an agent trying to do his job.

It wouldn't be so difficult if she hadn't gotten to know him better last night.

She'd heard about his family and related to his emotions as a lonely boy caught between his divorced parents and their new families.

While her childhood had been much different, she'd also felt very lonely in her role as Landon's second mother.

She'd wished a million times that her father hadn't taken the easy way out, because it had certainly seemed that way to her, even though as an adult she could logically understand he'd had mental issues and deeply painful emotions.

But even knowing that, she still blamed him for leaving her alone to fix everything.

At least Matt's father had done something heroic, even if his actions had also cost the family their idyllic living situation.

Her phone rang, startling her out of her thoughts, and she was grateful to focus on someone other than Matt. "Hello, Julia?"

"Did you talk to Arjun? I thought you were going to call me last night after you spoke to him?" Julia said, with an edge to her voice.

"I'm sorry. There was a lot going on. I did speak to Arjun—AJ, as he calls himself now."

"Did he tell you anything new?"

"He said that my brother was working on a passion project, some kind of algorithm, and AJ thought the frat brothers might have been trying to get their hands on it."

"What would this algorithm do?"

"I don't know. AJ said Landon was secretive about it."

"Well, I'm not sure his frat brothers would have been smart enough to do anything with his research without him being there to explain it."

"I don't know. AJ said Landon told him the guys were pressuring him to do something he didn't want to do.

He was angry and worried to the point that he was thinking about dropping out of school.

Then he died a few days later. That's why AJ didn't believe it was an accident.

He knew Landon didn't drink and that he didn't like those guys anymore and wasn't interested in their parties. "

"So, AJ believes someone in the fraternity wanted your brother's research, his algorithm?"

"Yes. And that makes sense when you consider the fact that Landon's phone and computer were missing.

He also mentioned that Landon had written a lot of his project research in a series of black notebooks.

I didn't see those at his apartment. I think they were stolen, too.

" She paused. "Unless the police took the notebooks into evidence? "

"No. There weren't any notebooks. Maybe I should follow up with AJ. You told me he runs a gaming club in North Hollywood?"

"Yes, Cipher. But he's gone, Julia. AJ left his club right after we did. I think he got scared by my questions and the fact that Sabrina Lin is dead."

"That's too bad. He might have known more that he didn't say."

"I agree, but I don't think we're going to find him."

"Did he say anything else to you?"

"That was it. But something happened after we left the club.

I was followed into the Hollywood Hills, and someone tried to run me off the road.

Luckily, Matt—Agent Lawson—was not far behind me.

He saw what was happening and tried to get between us.

It was pretty scary. I thought one or both of us was going to crash into the canyon, but eventually, I was able to pull over, and the guy took off. "

"That must have been terrifying, Haley."

"I still shake when I think about it. I've never had anyone go after me like that before. I think he was trying to kill me."

"You need security. Can you get the FBI to put you up in a safehouse?"

"I don't know. Matt spent the night on my couch. I'm okay now."

"Is he there with you?"

For some reason, Julia's question gave her pause.

It seemed like Julia should be more interested in talking about the case than about where she was and who she was with.

But that was silly; Julia was just concerned about her.

She couldn't let Matt's doubts color her thoughts. She knew Julia better than he did.

"Matt will be back shortly," she said. "We're going to a charity event hosted by Jill Adler today."

"I doubt she'll confess anything at a public event."

"No, but maybe she'll reveal something we don't already know."

"Or you'll make someone see you as more of a threat than they already do. You should take a page out of Arjun's book and get out of town."

"And do what? I have a job. I can't hide.

And I'm not sure they wouldn't track me down anyway.

They don't know what I know, and that makes me dangerous to whoever killed my brother and Sabrina.

Anyway, I'll be careful, but I'm going to keep trying to figure this out.

Agent Lawson believes Landon was murdered, so he's willing to help me. "

"I heard his unit pulled the file."

"Were you forced to leave anything out of that file, Julia?"

"No. I was forced to stop asking questions and to find evidence to support what the university claimed happened."

"Who do you think was putting pressure on the police?"

"Someone from Westbridge, probably the dean, who was most likely being pressured by alumni parents and donors."

"Why would they have power over the police department?"

"The deputy police chief, Alan Matson, had political aspirations. Now, he's a state senator."

"I forgot about that," she murmured.

"I can't say for sure he was the one being influenced.

He was several levels above my supervisor.

I was just told to shut things down, and unless I had hard evidence otherwise, we couldn't pursue it.

" Julia paused. "I'm glad the FBI is involved now, and Lawson has a good reputation as a solid agent. "

She was reassured by that information, because she was definitely going to need Matt's help. "I'm happy to hear that."

"Keep in touch. I'll be curious to hear what Brooke has to say now."

"So will I."